146 INVESTIGATIONS IN FORTH, 1890. 



captured but 854 or 10 per haul, 30 hauls in St Andrews Bay 

 gave eS,472 or 115 per haul — eleven times as many. Of this 

 great number 2,464 pertain to August, with only five hauls of 

 the trawl, whereas six hauls in the Forth gave but 162 in the 

 same month, and five hauls in September only 10. Plaice 

 under 7 inches were rare in the Forth — 15 occurring in 79 

 hauls, and chiefly in the first half of the year. On the other 

 hand, 737 were procured in the 30 hauls in St Andrews Bay, 

 and all but 12 in the month of August. The broad features 

 distinguishing the two areas are nowhere mapped out more 

 decisively than in the case of this fish, and if the Fishery 

 Board had been able to devote as much energy to St Andrews 

 Bay as to the Forth the results would have been even more 

 pronounced. No feature was more evident during the work off 

 the east coast of Scotland in 1884 than that the large plaice 

 were as a rule offshore fishes, whereas the sandy shallow water 

 inshore w^as a stronghold for the smaller forms. 



The total number of dabs of all kinds was 2,276, or 28 per 

 haul, an increase on the previous year, though one under 1886, 

 but little real importance is to be placed on the variations 

 exhibited under the circumstances by this species. Most were 

 captured during the latter half of the year, that is, from July 

 to December. 



This year cod showed a larger average than had yet been 

 obtained, viz. 23 per haul, or a total of 1821 of all kinds. 

 Unfortunately, the statistics have not been uniformly kept 

 throughout the various years, the separation of the large cod 

 (23 — 27 in.) having only been clearly carried out in 1890. So 

 far as can be observed, however, a tendency to increase in the 

 colder months in the case of the larger cod is evident. The 

 highest monthly number of all kinds is in November : December 

 follows closely, then October. The highest monthly number of 

 large cod (23 — 27 in.) is in February, — November, October and 

 December following. During the five years, the averages of all 

 kinds of cod were 8, 12, 10, 10, 23; the sudden leap in the last 

 year (1890) being one of the variations so prevalent in the 

 department. 



Long-rough dabs had a total of 1,627 or 20 per haul, a 



